Hey There. It’s the Millennial Generation here…

Hey there. It’s a millennial generation here.

I’ve read a lot about what baby boomers and generations who have come before think of us. While it’s all very amusing, with every article I read that claims to have figured us all out I can’t help but think to myself “wow, they are not even close.”

Goldman Sachs recently published an interactive info graphic entitled “Millennials Coming of Age,” where the firm attempted to project a specific life strategy upon our generation in order to prepare investors for the trends we might influence. While our parent’s generation might think, “How interesting this describes them so well,” the reality is those findings continued a lie being told by the generations preceding us. In fact I find it interesting that the end goal of creating this info graphic in the first place was to enlighten future investment opportunity.

In reality, we do not choose to wait on large purchases or life decisions such as buying a home or starting a family because of our culture or our choice of a part time job rather than a full time salaried position with benefits. The reality is, when most of us graduated within the last 5–10 years we were met with something that none of the crippling student loans, overpriced private colleges, and sub-par public school systems prepared us for. This was of course the impenetrable job market and the requirements of employers to have 3–5 years experience at minimum for an entry-level job.

When you pair this disparity with the inflated lifestyle we were used to growing up in amidst a true middle class with parents who could put themselves through college working a couple of part time jobs, it’s only natural that we would revert to the safety of what we know by living at home. It’s also that, for many, there is no other choice.

Where were the jobs? The crisis in the legal job market that has trickled down to cripple law school enrollment serves as a fantastic model for how the older generations cannot get enough from the system before leaving it to the next generation. Capitalism has been so good to them and their families so why would they stop when there’s so much left to wring out of the economic dishtowel?

We’ve been taught about the wrongs of history but we have lived through some of the worst of them. Hitler’s rise to power was pure evil, systemic racism was and is a tragedy but those are things that we can almost universally see as such. The housing collapse and subsequent economic collapse of 2008 without any Wall Street bankers being jailed or government reforms being enacted was something that turned our stomachs in a totally new. It did so because we are being handed a system where injustice takes place and those who commit the injustice are the ones who are rewarded while the masses pay the price. Whether it is losing their homes, their retirement, or their future employment prospects the American Lower and Middle classes are still paying the price.

Our lifestyle choices, how we spend our income, and what we choose to focus on in our free time are not decisions of our generation as a whole; we simply cannot afford to move forward without help.

All of this very much sounds as though I am complaining but I assure you it is nothing of the sort. This is the context for the beginning of our story.

You see in a year where many of the Academy Award Nominees for Best Picture are full of true stories where justice and the spirit humanity prevail, we find ourselves poised to have a voice and drive culture towards similar values.

I’m what you would probably define as a “creative.” I’ve worked with a lot of people my age including creatives, educators, artists, and business professionals. ALL of them have made me realize that we are getting a harsh lesson that trumps all of the parenting and schooling we’ve received throughout the years and it is this:

In a world where the economic baton being passed to us is a beaten up facade of a system, we realize the pursuit of financial domination in this world hasn’t brought happiness to those who have come before us.

Happiness. It’s what we all want and we may be the first generation to fully embrace the realization that money or financial security is not the end goal. Rather, money (what little we have of it) presents opportunity to experience each other in a new and empathetic way.

Yes empathy. Because more than anything, whether intentionally or unintentionally, our generation has been taught to TRULY care about those around us. We see misfortune and we don’t bring it up in our next board meeting we act with everything within our means. We don’t wait for the system to turn out justice because those we were told would be dishing it out have too often been the ones in need of the indictment.

Our lack of fortune in this economy has made us rich in understanding humanity’s story.

Our generation has access to the most information in history and we know how to use it like none before. We see your bullshit and we raise you a cup of fair trade pour-over coffee and a good conversation where we can actually learn from and about each other even when we have the greatest differences in background or belief.

The thing is, the day will come where you have left your industry and the world to us and we will be left to pick up the pieces. Just as you were created from the values, fears, and failures of the generations before you, you have created us. Just as your parents didn’t understand the interests, desires, and life choices that you valued in your early life, you may never see the day where you understand ours.

SO I guess all that we have left to say is… “Thank you.” Thank you for living for such trivial pursuits that our legacy has the potential to dwarf your entire existence.

We are up to the task. We are up for the challenge because growing up we were all told that we are unique… we are special.

And we are. So please…Stop trying to understand us. Just know that we will leave this place better than we found it.